Gardens range from historic to food producing

The seventh annual Sooke Secret Garden Tour features gardens as well as a plant sale, musical entertainment, a classic car show, a display of works by local artists and artisans and even refreshments.

The gardens range from a historic house and garden built in the early 1930s with extensive plantings of rhodos, dogwoods and topiaries — not to mention an aviary, gazebo and greenhouses — to a property where the owners are dedicated to growing vegetables, fruit and herbs using organic methods.

Several of the homes are on large properties, such as one where the owners have planted more than 1,100 hybrid rhodos representing 300 species. Another home has a garden featuring waterfalls, fish ponds, stone walkways, flowering vines and a theme of “urban landscape meets West Coast forest.”

Organizers suggest bringing a camera and notepad to take note of garden ideas, wearing comfortable clothing and non- slip shoes, bringing bags or boxes for plant or art purchases (cash only) and being prepared for changes in the weather.

Last-minute tickets can be bought at Shoppers Drug Mart and Peoples Drugs on Sooke Road, east of Connie Road. There will be shuttle buses in two locations where there is a bit of a walk to two gardens.

The tour is a fundraiser for the Sooke Philharmonic Society and supports the local semiprofessional orchestra founded in 1997 by Norman Nelson.